Spring Mix

Two days of spring mix. What's that mean? Unpredictable is what I mean.

Thursday was wet even by east coast standards. A squall line passed through early in the dark hours of the morning and didn't let up until nearly 10am. Due to my work schedule, my 8 mile small hill run was conveniently placed within the yellow band (according to the "News4 Enhanced Accucast Doppler Radar Improved with Multivitamins and Iron") of a passing squall line. My run was a delightful mix of constant drizzle and steady rain with intermittent gusts of wind. Fun and deliciously wet. Fortunately, I had a very comfortable pace, lightweight rain jacket, and (finally) broken-in Salomon 3D Pro XCR waterproof trail shoes (and they WORKED superbly!). I have to say it was a great run. I highly recommend running in cold rain. You'll appreciate every sunny day there after. Total run was 9.2 miles (it was supposed to be 8--my mind got soggy somewhere along the way, I guess).

Today, I got to mix it up with a combined medium intensity weight routine and 20+ miles on the road bike. This time, Spring dished out some beautifully blue skies mixed with fair weather cummulus and blustery west, northwest winds. The 45 minute weight routine combined 1.5 minutes of jumping rope between each weight set. After 3 sets I was ready to get out on the bike (although I have to admit by doublies are pretty fine now!).

Despite a strong cross wind on the starboard bow throughout the outbound loop of the ride, I felt really strong and in the groove. Climbing up Kilkare canyon was almost effortless it seemed. However, our real estate broker called half way up- we're relocating to a new mad house- and asked if I was ok when I answered. I'm sure she enjoyed the climb up the grade as much as I did. I'm also hoping she doesn't report me to the cops after all the heavy breathing. The ride home was amazingly strong and I put in a total of 22.5 miles at an average pace of 17.3mph. Not bad for a windy day!

So two great spring days and two great training events this week. Tomorrow's a day off before Sunday's combined 10 mile big hill running and 15 mile mountain bike ride.